With billions of dollars in industry figures, influencer marketing has become a legitimate marketing strategy and if you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to make it a part of your marketing plan. Collaborating with the right social media influencer means not just reaching a large engaged audience for increased brand awareness but also this likely translating into higher sales. Still, the key is to hire the right influencer. How do you know what influencers are right for you?
Here are 4 characteristics of an effective social media influencer to keep in mind.
Authenticity
People tend to trust authentic people and it follows that an important characteristic for an effective influencer to possess is authenticity. As it’s very easy to lie on social media, audiences are often rightly skeptical and it takes people who share their true selves to gain trust and credibility.
For example, a fitness influencer who shares their own struggles with things like quitting junk food or weight loss with their followers is more likely to be successful in convincing them to buy a new fitness product. Similarly, a sustainability influencer who publicly refuses to work with companies that don’t align with their values can generate a lot of engagement for the companies they do endorse.
Relevance
Social media is a crowded place with millions of people competing for attention. By definition, an influencer needs to stand out and relevance is a key part of that as the ability to create content that is meaningful to an audience is the way to build a loyal following.
A relevant influencer that knows what interests their audience and creates constant based on that will have an easier time discerning what products or services they’ll respond to. For example, a business influencer who shares the latest career-enhancing tips can better collaborate to endorse products like project management software or time-saving tech gadgets.
Creativity
Visual content is key in social media marketing and often the most effective influencers have a talent for creating visually compelling content.
For example, a creative influencer can use humor to make their content more shareable such as a funny meme about seniors to generate engagement for an assisted living facility. Similarly, a beauty influencer can create makeup tutorials that feature unconventional techniques to advertise a new versatile makeup brush.
Consistency
Marketing campaigns take time to become successful for different reasons – competition, testing and refining, consumer behavior, etc – so a consistent influencer is generally a more effective one.
For example, a vegan influencer who consistently posts restaurant suggestions at noon every day will have an audience that anticipates their posts so that they can get a lot of engagement for any restaurant they partner with.
When done right, influencer marketing can be very beneficial so in addition to factoring in follower size and compatibility, consider these characteristics when hiring a social media influencer.
